Saw You Out With The Weeds

Suitor — 2026

“Dense, driving, and dialed in! Suitor turn raw energy into something sharper and more dangerous.”

Suitor could be a poster for the Northeast Ohio scene. Vocalist Emma Shepard grew up in Akron, where her mother and uncle both played in new wave bands, and her father has run a local record shop for over 45 years. She met her bandmates while attending college in Kent, and the group played their first show in Cleveland back in 2021. Their debut, Communion, was recorded by just Shepard and guitarist Chris Corsi and landed as a raw, focused introduction to the band’s post punk sound. Now the full five piece lineup of Shepard, Chris Corsi, bassist John Corsi, guitarist Stephen Ovak, and drummer Ryan Matricardi steps up together on Saw You Out With The Weeds, their first full length for Cincinnati’s Feel It Records. The record was tracked live in Lawrence, Kansas in the spring of 2024 by Caufield Schnug and Lira Mondal of Sweeping Promises, and that live setting shows. This is a band playing in a room together, and you can feel it.

Saw You Out With The Weeds sits in the territory where post punk, noise pop, and indie rock cross paths. I like that it never fully commits to just one of those things. The guitars are sharp and stacked on top of each other, the bass is thick and keeps everything moving forward, and the drums feel locked in without being rigid. The songs move with raw energy as the nervy guitar lines and drums that don’t let up. The vocals cut through with hooks that stick even as the music keeps you on edge as the tension drives the record especially as Shepard’s voice sits right in the middle of it all, melodic but with an edge that keeps things from getting too pretty. The worded melodies and hooks are really present with the live recording as the entire record has a cool, slightly dark atmosphere without going gothic on you.

On Communion, the earlier Suitor material felt raw in a purposeful way, with a goth shimmer and a loose, rubbery groove. Saw You Out With The Weeds plays like a reintroduction, trading in a sharper sheen on its chiming guitars while a heavier psychedelic current winds through its shadowy, slow-burning core. While Communion’s melodies were often clouded in a softer haze, Saw You Out With The Weeds leans into a more immediate approach, stacking its sound into a dense surge that carries confidence. Adding three more players to the lineup clearly changed the dynamic. The songs have more room and more weight. I think the growth here is real, even if the core identity of the band has stayed in place.

Sonic Youth, Pylon, Women, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Unrest are cited influences here. Beyond those names, its hard not to think of Mondal and Schnug’s Sweeping Promises, or Priests, and Sleater-Kinney’s Dig Me Out rawness as reference points. I think the better comparison points are bands that feel like they are just hitting their stride right now. Horsegirl dropped Versions of Modern Performance and came out swinging with a clear sense of purpose. Water From Your Eyes have been building real momentum with every release. Dry Cleaning took their time and came back sharper than ever on Stumpwork. Suitor fits in that same group with bands that have something to prove and the songs to back it up. “Factory” in particular has that same locked in, no wasted motion energy that First Day Back brings to their best tracks, where the rhythm section drives everything and the vocals ride right on the edge of the tension. That is exactly what connects Suitor to this current wave of bands that are making post punk feel urgent again rather than just familiar.

Opening track “Model Actress” kicks in with clipped, punchy guitar bursts that quickly signal Suitor’s roots in punk while the vocals have a swaggy Wet Leg type delivery. It sets the tone fast. “Factory,” is one of the record’s best moments as it locks into a groove and does not let go. “Generator” staggers forward with a jagged edge, while “Televangelist” tightens the screws before bursting into a looping explosive chant of “are you listening!?” That closer, “Dull Customer,” is the record’s most open and airy moment, and I think it works well as the final word. The teeter totter back n forth vocals are killer. The track listing itself is well thought out — the record flows without feeling samey.

The lyrics on Saw You Out With The Weeds are packed in without being cluttered. Shepard moves quickly through lines, stacking words in a way that rewards paying attention. Song titles like “Blank Americana,” “Televangelist,” and “Private Prison” give you a sense of the themes at play as there is a critical, observational quality to the writing. The band’s synergy comes through in how the vocals sit inside the arrangements rather than just riding on top of them. The lyrics and the music feel like they were built together.

Saw You Out With The Weeds is close to a must hear post-punk record. The album is tight, focused, and hits hard without overstaying its welcome. Every piece of it works as the production, the performances, and the songwriting add up to something that feels bigger than the sum of its parts. I think what sets this apart from a lot of records in this space is that Suitor never sounds like they are trying to be any of their influences. They sound like themselves, and that is a harder thing to pull off than most bands realize. This is the kind of second record that makes you want to keep a close eye on what comes next, because if the growth between Communion and this one is any indication, Suitor still have a lot more to say.